Effective Email Communication

There can be nothing worse for clients than a poorly conceived email campaign from a local business owner. Receiving unsolicited email with no opt-out (about to become illegal in South Africa), repetitive information, bad design and poor content are some of the reasons many clients do not wish to be placed on an email circulation register.

From a business owner's perspective though, email can be a very powerful tool. Reaching your target market with relevant, thought-provoking and useful content is very important. The writing of these emails is a skill all of its own and this blog will address this issue in the coming days.

Managing email lists and responding to client's return emails is also important as it speaks to the professionalism of your business. Just because your company operates out of a home office does not mean that you can be slack with this vital communication tool.

Over the years I have spent online I have come across numerous companies that offer email newsletter services. They offer to manage your lists, set up auto-responders, generate reports and deliver your content timeously. I have used GraphicMail in the past and they seem to deliver a good service. They also offer free use for non-profit organisations.

A company whose name I often see is AWeber. In fact, I subscribe to a few lists managed by them. These guys have been around for a while and seem to know their business well. According to their website they offer these benefits :

* Unlimited autoresponders.
* Unlimited personalized follow up messages.
* Unlimited message length, unlimited changes, and full integrated HTML creator and/or plain text message capability.
* Unlimited campaigns.
* Templates pre-designed HTML to allow larger fonts, bold, colors, and images. Fully customizable.
* Unlimited personalized broadcast newsletters and segmented broadcast capability.
* Easy web form generator allows easy addition of opt-in forms to your website, pop-ups, pop-overs, hover pops, and exit pops along with split testing of different forms.
* Name, date, geographical, 25 custom fields, and more personalization features.
* Graphical account statistics and reporting with automatic emailing of reports.
* Automatic undeliverable email handling.
* Automated ad tracking features.
* Complete 24/7 control over your own account, via an online control panel.
* Integrated CAN-SPAM compliance checks with SPF & Sender ID email authentication included.
* FREE unlimited customer support.

I am sure you will agree that this is a fairly comprehensive list! Their website offers much more information as well as video tutorials and a demo.

The cost ranges from around R140 per month to R1200 per year. I don't believe that this is excessive for the value you are receiving.

Go and take a look - AWeber - you'll be glad you did!

Revisiting The Basics

It is so easy to become ungulfed in the reality of running your own business that you begin to neglect those basic principles that made you successful in the first place! Like a good sportsman, it is important to be grounded in the basic skills and principles so that when the going is tough you can continue to make progress.

Here then are 10 principles of business basics that we would do well to remember :

1) Know what you don't do - be clear on those things that your business is not offering clients. It is too easy to try to be all to all - a sure shortcut to business failure.

2) Know your market - understand who your business is serving - what is your target market? Write this down and be specific - age, gender, class, location, language etc.

3) Differentiate your service - be prepared to do something different to stand out from the crowd.

4) Watch the pennies - keep a very close watch on the comings and goings of your bank balance.

5) Truly care for your employees - a happy, cared for and affirmed work force is your greatest asset - look after them and they will look after you.

6) Under promise, over deliver - you cannot afford the advertising value of good word-of-mouth referrals (neither can you afford the negative publicity linked to a client's bad experience!)

7) Set goals and go after them - Write down your goals and share them with others

8) Make your business known - explore all options to let the market know what you offer - some creative thought and minimal expense can reap great dividends.

9) Stick it out! - every business will have rough patches - how we choose to react to them can be the difference between success and failure.

10) Always maintain your integrity - have a clear moral compass and ethical values in your business at all times.

- This blog post is adapted from an article by Greg Fisher in the May 2007 edition of Entrepreneur magazine.

Integrity in Business

Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's going to know whether you did it or not. - Oprah Winfrey

According to Steven Covey in the book Everyday Greatness integrity is the common denominator that sustains every other principle of everyday greatness. He states that without the foundation of integrity, all other principles are greatly diminished.

In a world of confused values business owners are tempted to take moral shortcuts to increase their profit margins. This may seem like a quick fix to a financial bind but in the long term it is a moral and ethical compromise.

Socrates stated that the way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear. If you are wanting a good reputation in your chosen field of business, make sure you keep the moral high ground and maintain your own personal integrity in your business dealings. Make sure any staff you may have understand that any breaching of your business' code of ethics will be dealt with severely. (Make sure they know beforehand what that code of ethics is - even better, engage them in a staff workshop to develop the code of ethics for your business).

Taking shortcuts in business is never worth it, especially when it comes to the integrity of your business - just don't do it!